am very pleased with my white fungus soup. i have got the timing right so that the dates are soft and swollen and fall right off the pit when pressed with a spoon but the chinese almonds are still crunchy. and despite my mum forgetting to pack rock sugar for me i cook the longan pulp long enough for the sweetness to be leached from the longans and the soup turn a glassy brown. and the white fungus is not too crunchy as in some versions but cooked so long it has a jelly quality which is the way i've come to like it. and my headache is beginning to go.